IWD 2021: Time To Bloom founder Lubna Khan-Salim on virtual wellness and being a nimble entrepreneur

For International Women’s Day 2021, Bdaily reached out to a range of female business leaders from across our key regions to share how their experience of the pandemic has shaped their passion for gender equality.

Lubna Khan-Salim is the founder of medical spa Time To Bloom, based in Selby in North Yorkshire. A former NHS surgeon with plastic surgical training, Lubna launched her venture in February before the pandemic hit, fuelled by her passion for self-care and providing support to those going through menopause.

Bdaily spoke with Lubna about the challenges of launching a business during a global pandemic and the need for a cultural shift around gender roles in the workplace.

As a woman, how have you personally adapted during the pandemic, and what challenges have you faced?

“As a small business owner the pandemic has directly affected my business due to the repeated lockdowns and the service nature of my industry meaning I was forced to close.

“However, I believe as a business you have to be nimble and willing to adapt to any situation and so I used the opportunity to start an online arm to my business with the launch of a wellbeing shop and also increased my social media presence with the aim of keeping my brand still at the forefront of my client’s minds.

“I wanted to be of use to my customers, to be a source of positivity, information and an escape from the situation.

“I feel as a business we are part of the fabric of our communities, especially as a small business and we should be a force for good, not just focussing on commercial success but also social responsibility too.”

How have you and your business supported women during the past year?

“In order to be supportive and informative during the pandemic, I shifted my social media from being about my services and sales to focusing content on wellbeing and self-care.

“Recognising the frustration this latest lockdown has presented and the impact primarily on women with homeschooling and working from home, I wanted to create a ‘date’ for everyone to look forward to and for women to be able to take a night off for themselves for some self-care, so I created a virtual wellness event.

“This brought together female experts in their fields from yoga to sound healing and inspirational talks on styling, nutrition and women’s health focussing on the menopause.

“The aim of the evening was not only self-care but also to support an amazing women’s charity Smart Works and for us to focus on something other than our own situations for one night. The event was so well received, with amazing feedback and we raised over £1000 for the charity.”

What opportunities do you feel that the pandemic has created for women, if any?

“Despite the obvious hurdles and difficulties of the pandemic for women with childcare, home schooling and working from home, I know that for many of my colleagues and friends this period of time has also presented inspiration and opportunity to start their own enterprises and new businesses.

“Having time at home to reflect on work and life, I think has made many women conclude the juggling act is unsustainable and they prioritise in a different way.

“Like myself, starting off in a very traditional career role as a surgeon and working for a big organisation like the NHS, stepping away sometimes can help you see the wood for the trees and you question your happiness and satisfaction and realise that change is possible.

“Also I hope the pandemic has helped companies realise that flexible working and working from home is feasible and possible and will allow women and men more flexibility when it comes to childcare- often the barrier to women continuing in their former roles.”

In your opinion, has the pandemic highlighted any gender imbalances in business?

“I hoped at the start of the pandemic there would be a global shift that working from home would mean equally shared childcare and household chores but sadly that hasn’t been shown to be the case by numerous studies; the burden is still disproportionately still falling on women.

“I think the pandemic could potentially be a disaster in terms of the strides taken in equality in the workplace, the last year has not only shown more working mums than men taking up childcare responsibilities but more women than men being the ones to give up their jobs due to having lower salaries or earning expectations (due to years of pay inequality).

“And let’s not forget the additional challenges and discrimination faced by self- employed women and women on maternity leave leading up to the crisis or during when it came to financial support packages and lack thereof.”

As we step into a post-pandemic business landscape, how do you think women’s roles in business may change?

“My hope is that the pandemic may still be the catalyst for change and businesses, society and men will all up their game and place equality firmly on the agenda.

“I think the working from home and childcare situation has encouraged many couples to consider gender-balanced childcare for the future and shared parental leave.

“But ultimately this all depends on how accommodating companies are when it comes to offering longer-term solutions for parents to work flexibly or share leave and I think the pandemic has forced many businesses to acknowledge and be forced to experience how possible this is.

“If done right, flexibility in the workplace will be a game-changer for women’s careers. For many women, not having to commute gives more opportunity to structure the day and boosts productivity whilst also allowing for a better work-life balance.

“But this requires real change from business and for it to become accepted, encouraged and ingrained in our culture.

“Although the pace of change is slow, more and more women are demanding change and the status quo cannot be allowed to stay the same. It’s been proven the more diverse the boardroom, the better the outcome.

“Culture must change to allow women to remain and excel in their roles and business cannot afford to lose women leaders.”